I. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to a drinking straw assembly. More particularly, the present invention relates to a drinking straw assembly having a valve adapted to be removably connected to a valve housing.
II. Description of the Prior Art
Liquid consumption is essential to support the lives of all human beings. Children require substantial amounts of liquid to allow for proper growth. Infants and toddlers often lack adequate dexterity to allow for successful consumption of liquid from an open cup. To this end, a number of training cups exist having a straw designed to facilitate consumption of liquid by children or others having limited dexterity.
However, use of a straw without a way to prevent liquid flow when not in use, especially by a small child, often results in the contents of the container being spilled. This is especially true when a small child, traveling in an automobile or the like, uses such a container. The result is a potentially unwanted condition in which, the child may become covered by the spilled material.
Valved drinking devices used as trainer cups provide a partial solution to this problem and are well known in the art. For example, U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,102,245 and 6,116,457, both to Haberman, provide for a drinking vessel having a valve means contained in a lid mouthpiece.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,085,349 to Fawcett provides a fluid supply chamber connected to a length of tubing having a closed end with a deformable slit. The tube can be received in a person's mouth to enable fluid to flow therethrough.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,607,755 to Andreozzi provides a children's drinking vessel with a flexible straw disconnectably mounted on a container and extendable substantially beyond the container. The outermost free end of the straw has a valve.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,196,747 to Quigley et al. provides a drinking tube connected to a one-way valve located in a liquid reservoir. The valve has a flapper enclosed within a valve chamber to prevent liquid from flowing back from the tube into the reservoir.
PCT Application Number PCT/NL93/00271 provides for a drinking system that has a check valve located near the downstream end of a straw to be held in the mouth.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,031,831 to Williams, III provides for a straw having a one-way flapper valve at the bottom of the straw to prevent liquid from falling back when the sucking action of the drinker ceases.
While the art provides for valved drinking systems, missing in the art is a drinking straw assembly having a valve adapted to be removably connected to a valve housing. Another missing feature in the art is a straw assembly having a removable valve that is easy to clean, thereby insuring proper hygiene along with proper functioning of the valve in the straw assembly.
Applicant has discovered an improved drinking straw assembly having an easy to clean valve that can be removably connected to a valve housing. This assembly is suitable for use in a trainer cup and other applications.